Words talk

“It was probably close to Isha prayers, it would have been 7 or 8 at night. I went in there and I couldn’t believe there were about a 1000 people at the mosque. I thought subhan Allah look at this religion, look at how strong they are! [pause] it was the first night of Ramdan [laughs] ‘Ramdan Muslims’.” Abu bakr shares his feeling about the night he converted Islam. Sadly! we are slowly losing the entitlement of even being termed as the ‘Ramdan Muslims’. The zeal with which we should look forward to Ramdan has been replaced by the resentment on season, environment and time of year Ramdan has arrived at. Of little that I know about Islam, I know it is not a religion of imposition or force. Well! I think a lot of people know that already, they do practice it for skipping fasts for sure.  Eid has become another day for us on which we can sleep late, have food and send in Eid messages. It’s a gift from God for someone who has kept fasts in the holy month of Ramdan, which is f...

Iffi, our 16-year-old American born desi cousin was always questioning his roots. One day when the patriot kid was complaining how his parents had kept him away from his culture, the Pakistani couple instantly decided to send Iffi to Pakistan in summers. We and my aunt live together in a joint family system; so Iffi instantly decided to stay with us. Zain and Iffi are the same age so naturally, Zain was responsible for Iffi’s religio-socio-cultural tour in Pakistan. After partying till dawn, Zain and Iffi would go to sleep after having sehri. The fast was easy, Zain only got up to offer prayers and recited the holy book half an hour before iftar. Iftar was delicious and the nicotine doze afterwards made it soothing. Zain’s routine to me is pretty usual. She does well at school and her parents are happy with her. Iffi was a branded gora kid so he instantly became popular among Zain’s friends; who at one end hate American policies for Pakistan but on the other fancy their lang...